Only two in three babies born in England and Wales are white British

Fewer than two-thirds of babies born in England and Wales are now registered as 'White British'.

Newly-released figures give the first official breakdown of births by ethnic identity, and offer a striking insight into the changing face of Britain's population.

Of 649,371 babies born in 2005, 64.4 per cent were recorded as 'White British'.

Birth identities: 64.4% of births in the UK were white, followed by 8.7% asian and 5% black

The next largest group were the 8.7 per cent who were recorded as Asian - of whom Pakistanis formed the biggest section with 3.7 per cent.

Five per cent of babies were recorded as black - 3 per cent African, 1.2 per cent 'black or black British Caribbean' and 0.8 per cent 'other black' identities.

Mixed race babies accounted for 3.5 per cent of births, while 5.1 per cent were Irish or 'other white identities' and 2.4 per cent were Chinese or 'other groups'.

Just under 11 per cent had no ethnic identity recorded.

Yesterday's statistical bulletin from the Office for National Statistics follows a separate publication last week showing that a quarter of all babies are now born to immigrant mothers.

In London the figure is 54 per cent, rising to 75 per cent in some boroughs.

The fast-moving trend means that babies born to immigrant mothers are set to become the main driver of Britain's population growth within the next few years, taking over from immigration itself.

The data on ethnic identity of births reveal stark differences in the lifestyles and social norms of the UK's various communities.

Virtually all Asian babies - more than 95 per cent - were registered by married parents compared to only around half of 'White British' babies and just a third of the Black Caribbean group.

The proportion of births registered by single mothers - those where no father's details are given - was highest in the Caribbean group at 20.5 per cent followed by African (13 per cent) and 'White British' (7 per cent).

By contrast in each of the three main Asian groups - Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi - fewer than 1.5 per cent of births were registered by a single mother.

The findings will reinforce concerns over the effects of broken homes and the lack of effective male role-models among black youths.

The remaining births were registered to unmarried couples or by parents living separately.

Half of all White British and African babies were born to mothers over 30, compared with 32 per cent of Pakistani babies and 29 per cent of Bangladeshi babies.

Commentators were divided over the implications of the figures.

Monmouth Tory MP David Davies voiced concern not over the numbers of births to ethnic minorities but over the potential problems of social integration.

He said: 'It is now more important than ever that those large number of people with different coloured skin join in with British society.

'Many of the people included in the figures will be black British or British Asian through and through, from the third and fourth generations, who are setting an example of integration to other ethnicities.

'The problem comes when large numbers of people of all ethnicities are not willing to use the language, are abusing our system and demanding that laws are changed to accommodate them.'

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Sir Andrew Green, chairman of the MigrationWatch think tank, said: 'This is a measure of the extent to which uncontrolled immigration is changing the nature of our society, against the wishes of a very large majority.

'Immigration is now expected to account for 70 per cent of our population increase in the next 25 years. This means we will have to build a city the size of Birmingham every three or four years to sustain the newcomers.

'The Government has allowed immigration to get out of control, but they still show no sign of a serious effort to reduce it.'

Change: 64.4 per cent are 'White British'

But former Labour MP and minister Tony Benn hailed the figures as 'a delightful snapshot of life in multicultural Britain.'

He said: 'Multicultural Britain is now here to stay so it's great that we're finally learning to live alongside each other.

'We are now marrying people from different countries and society is becoming more tolerant of different races.'

Ratna Dutt, Director of the Race Equality Foundation, said: 'We're living in a different population now than we were 20 or 30 years ago.

'The figures show that older generations of black and ethnic minorities, who have grown up in this country, are now comfortable enough to raise their children here.

'Children are growing up surrounded by a mixed population from all different backgrounds and all ages which is a very positive thing.